


A Hand to Hold

by 29_WhiteLilies



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Holding Hands, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-20 21:34:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21288506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/29_WhiteLilies/pseuds/29_WhiteLilies
Summary: Just a little something inspired by today's LTAT and the whole "Just be Amber. Just hold my hand"-thing. Starts in the past, ends in the (not too distant) future. Kinda angsty in the middle, but mainly another fluff piece...The E-rating is probably an exaggeration, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Relationships: Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	A Hand to Hold

**Author's Note:**

> 1 - I still can't believe that I've been dragged this deeply into RPF land.. (..and by that, I mean "that I dragged myself this deeply into RPF land")  
2 - Well, since my soul is already lost...  
3 - Am I the queen of unimaginative titles yet?
> 
> This is probably full of mistakes. I'm still very much not a native speaker and very much beta-less (which is probably good because any additional obstacle would probably keep me from ever posting anything at all).

Age 6:

Link eyes Rhett’s outstretched hand with distrust. It looks clean enough but the things that he has seen that hand touch in the past make his stomach turn just thinking about them. Rhett isn’t squeamish about getting his hands dirty. He’ll touch everything, no matter if it is a slice of tomato off of Link’s sandwich to throw it into the trash for him (Yuck.), or a dirty rock that he thinks has an interesting shape (They all just look like normal rocks to Link.), or even a dead squirrel that suddenly fell from a tree in the school yard last week (Has nobody told this boy about rabies?). And now Link is supposed to hold this very same hand because that’s supposed to be safer when they cross the street?

“I-I don’t know…” he stammers, but Rhett cuts him off almost immediately.

“I washed it after lunch, I promise! Now come on, Miss Locklear is already looking at us funny. I don’t wanna be last to reach the bus. Then we’ll have to sit in the front row on the ride back.”

Link knows he’s probably being dramatic but he doesn’t make an effort to stifle the loud sigh he emits before finally slipping his hand into Rhett’s and crossing the road in front of the museum with the rest of their classmates.

It is a pretty wide road and the feeling of being tethered to his taller friend is actually pretty nice if he’s being honest with himself.

“Your hand is all sweaty”, he says out loud. 

“Sorry” 

Rhett sounds genuinely dismayed, so he quickly adds, “but it’s okay”, not wanting his friend to feel bad.

(Later that day, when their field trip is over and they are heading towards their waiting mothers on the opposite side of the street across from Buies Creek Elementary, Link finds himself reaching for Rhett’s hand before they take the first step onto the road. Rhett turns to look at him quizzically and Link feels himself blush. 

“S’ safer this way”, he states.

Rhett just smiles and holds his hand a little tighter until they reach their mothers and have to say goodbye for the afternoon.)

***

Age 11:

Link hates everything about this evening. He hates that his and Rhett’s usual plans for Halloween have been messed up by this new kid inviting them to his party. He hates that there wasn’t any food that he actually liked, neither at dinner, nor at the snack table. But most of all, he hates that they are currently in the new kid’s basement, five boys squeezed on a too-small couch, watching a movie that is definitely not suited for their age. 

If he and Rhett were alone, there’d be no problem. He knows that Rhett loves scary movies and Rhett knows that Link hates them. So when they do something like this, they have an agreement that allows Link to tell Rhett to turn it off or hide under his blanket whenever he wants, without being made fun of. Somehow, Link is pretty convinced that these rules don’t apply at the new kid’s place with the other boys around. So here he is, wedged between Rhett and the armrest, with his fingers fidgeting nervously under the blanket that is currently draped over his and Rhett’s lap. 

One particularly mean jump scare makes Link flinch so hard, it’s almost a surprise that he’s still in his seat. He is pretty sure he squealed but the movie is loud and none of the other boys seem to have heard, or they’d already be picking on him.

Link’s heart is beating wildly. He would love to just get up and leave but he knows that Rhett really wants the new kid to think that they are cool, so he can’t mess that up for him. The next scene is just as bad as the one before and after another violent flinch, there’s a subtle movement to his right. 

When the back of Rhett’s hand touches the back of his, Link could almost cry from relief. Instead of just gently sliding his palm into Rhett’s, like he normally would, he makes a frantic grab for his friend’s hand and interlaces their fingers, squeezing as tight as he can. He thinks he can see Rhett smirk in the half-light of the TV screen but when he feels his friend squeeze back, Link can finally relax a little.

(Rhett doesn’t seem to mind Link’s new coping mechanism. The next time they watch a scary movie together, he offers his hand to Link from the start. Link makes it through the whole movie without hiding under the blanket once.)

***

Age 14:

Link’s lungs are burning. He is drenched in sweat and the humid heat all around him makes it hard to breathe.

It was nothing.

He isn’t sure what is louder – the slap of his footsteps on the hot asphalt or the sound of his heart beating loudly in his ears.

It really wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. He was deeply distraught about a fight he had with his mother that morning and when he felt the familiar burning of tears in his eyes, Rhett reached out, their fingers intertwining in a completely normal, comforting squeeze. How could he have known that there were three older boys behind them who wouldn’t agree with that assessment of the situation…

Link can still hear their voices ringing in his ears, calling him and Rhett all kinds of things, firing each other up until the insults and threats got worse and worse. He doesn’t even know – like, really know – what most of these terms mean. He just knows that he absolutely hated how they made him feel in the moment. Especially when he isn’t… When he and Rhett aren’t… 

“Link! Link, stop!” he can hear Rhett’s voice somewhere behind him. The other boy’s calls make the pounding in his ears quiet down a bit. His muscles are burning but he still doesn’t quite know how to stop. Eventually, Link gradually slows down until Rhett catches up with him and stops him by grabbing his shoulder. Link whirls around. They are at the edge of town, close to the cow pasture, where the outskirts of the woods start.

“Hey! Why did you take off like that? Those idiots ultimately wouldn’t have done anything – they just want people to think that they’re tough but- Are you okay, man?.”, Rhett gasps, still pretty out of breath. 

It is only then that Link realizes he’s been crying. He quickly wipes the tears away and shrugs, suddenly deeply embarrassed.

“Dunno. I guess I did think they were pretty tough…” he mutters weakly.

Rhett looks at him for a few long moments, then he just wraps an arm around Link’s shoulders and starts walking.

“Come on, buddy. Let’s go to our spot at the river.”

Link is momentarily overcome with gratitude for having a best friend who gets him the way Rhett does. There are a few more tears in his eyes as he follows Rhett along the familiar path, but they are there for a very different reason than the ones before.

(Their friendship doesn’t really change that day. At least not substantially. But the next time Rhett reaches for Link’s hand, Link instinctively pulls away, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach with fear. They never talk about it.)

***

Age 41:

“Just be Amber. Just hold my hand.”

Rhett’s sentences sound a little rushed, like he knows that Link will back out if he gives him too much time. His grip, however, is tight and sure when he interlocks their fingers and - gently but insistently – pulls Link along the path to the fountain. 

Link’s spine is rigid. His legs are oddly stiff, his knees growing more wobbly with every step. He knows that his hand is completely limp in Rhett’s grip. Rhett doesn’t seem to mind, though. If anything, it seems to make him squeeze a little harder. Somewhere deep in Link’s mind, a distant feeling of recognition and familiarity is skirting the edge of his consciousness. At the forefront of his mind, however, there’s a well-known sense of panic that makes his vision blur and his heartbeat speed up in an entirely unpleasant way. So he just sits there, staring straight ahead, while his body is battling the urge to either cling to his best friend’s hand in an attempt to ground himself or to violently shake his grip off, as though the other man’s touch was burning him. Rhett’s hand feels wrong against his own. The fingers too long, the palm too sweaty, the grip too tight and the angle decidedly awkward as his own hand seems to be slowly slipping out, despite Rhett’s confident grasp.

When they finally let go, Link steadies his breath. He gets up and walks away while Rhett stays seated at the fountain for a bit longer. Once he reaches the car, the tension in his spine has mostly dissipated and his knees are almost back to normal.

(Link doesn’t know when it all started or how things got that bad. If he really tried, he could probably remember running from three stupid bullies on a hot summer day in Buies Creek many years ago. But he’d rather not think about anything connected to holding Rhett’s hand. This has been how he handles the situation for many, many years, so he doesn’t remember anything at all.)

***

Age 43:

Link yelps as his back hits the mattress, taken by surprise by the sudden shove that made him lose his balance. He opens his mouth to comment on his attacker’s bedside manners, but whatever coherence he still has goes out the window when he feels the swipe of an eager tongue against the tip of his cock. His eyes close reflexively and his hands immediately bury themselves in soft, wavy hair as a hot, wet mouth descends on his length until he is completely surrounded by velvety tightness, his grip helping to guide the other person’s movements. Link is almost ready to lose himself in the sensation when an obscene slurping sound, followed by a rush of cool air hitting his thoroughly wet cock, snaps him back to reality. His eyes open just in time to see the face of the person who is giving him this much pleasure appear in his field of vision as they crawl up the bed, hovering over him with the most delirious smile he has ever seen on another human.

“I can’t believe we’re finally doing this” Link mutters, his throat suddenly tight with an unexpected wave of emotion.

“Shut up and kiss me, Neal”, Rhett rasps and pins Link’s hands down above his head with both of his own. Their fingers intertwine perfectly, as if this is what they were always meant to do. Link can feel Rhett squeeze his hands as their lips and tongues meet in a passionate frenzy and all he can do is squeeze back, hoping that this will be enough to tell Rhett that he never wants him to let go.

(Rhett does let go a few minutes later. Link tries to reach for his hands to hold them for a little longer. Once he realizes where Rhett’s hands are headed, he suddenly doesn’t mind as much. Now that they are finally at this point, he knows that there will be more than enough opportunities to hold Rhett’s hands.)

**Author's Note:**

> Oops, I did it again...


End file.
